Birdwatching in Brunei, Borneo

This video says about itself:

April 29, 2013

The Sandakan Borneo Bird Club is proud to announce the 1st Borneo Bird Race to be held on 31st May to 9th June 2013 in collaboration with Brunei Tourism and Sabah Tourism Board. This event is specially organized for Birders and Photographers primarily, with an offshoot of promoting Borneo Island as one of the premier nature tourism destination in Asia. This inaugural race will expand over the years including Sarawak and Kalimantan of Indonesia.

The Race — an overview

For the first time, we launch the first international Borneo Bird Race 2013, where 10 countries travel more than 1000 kilometres in search of more than 400 species of birds in a wide range of habitats from the coastal regions, freshwater swamps, lowland forests, to the hills and mountain ranges of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. At the end of the day, each team will enjoy the beauty of this land as they count the numbers of recorded species, and the longest list shall earn the prestigious “Bornean Bristlehead Cup”.

Race starts from Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei then continues to Kinabalu Park and concludes at Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sepilok, Sabah where the 5th Borneo Bird Festival is simultaneously held.

The key objectives of the race are:
1. To promote Borneo as one of the premier bird watching destination in the world;
2. To network with birdwatching fraternities around Asian region and the world;
3. To increase arrival of eco-tourists and birdwatchers to Borneo;
4. Create awareness and conservation of the bird species unique to Borneo to the local Community and to the global birding fraternities;
5. Foster closer integration and harmony through nature festival of the neighboring States of Borneo, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia;
6. To enhance and complement the “Heart of Borneo” initiative – Tourism Program;
7. Further development of naturalist guide and birdwatching guide.
8. To create and further improve nature tourism facilities and infrastructure.

From BruDirect.com:

Borneo Bird Race To Rope In Nature Enthusiasts From Around Region

Tuesday, 14 May 2013 07:19

Siti Hajar

Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei Darussalam’s tourism plan will soon gain better momentum following the country’s wise investment that will see the pooling of efforts between two nations that aim to bring in nature enthusiasts from around the region.

Within the next few weeks starting May 31 until June 9, Brunei Tourism with co-hosts Sabah Tourism Board and Sandakan Borneo Bird Club has arranged to bring-in two dozen registered bird watchers from across seven Asian countries who will take part in the inaugural Borneo Bird Race 2013 that spans across the Abode of Peace and neighbouring Sabah.

A press conference chaired by Brunei Tourism Acting Director Mariani Haji Sabtu; Sabah Tourism Board Chairman Dato Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin; Cede Prudente, Chairperson of the Borneo Bird Festival and Race; Mohd Vol for the country’s Nature Festival; and Roger Rajah, Executive Board for the World Federation of Tourist Guide Association; explained that the event has been pegged to become a source for further economic diversification through eco-tourism. …

In total, the whole of Borneo spans an area of 743,330 square kilometres and is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world at 130 million years old, and shelters 13 primate species, 15,000 species of flowering plants with 3,000 species of trees, 221 species of terrestrial mammals and more than 680 species of resident and migratory birds.

Related articles

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• Setornis criniger (animalsoftheworldblog.wordpress.com)
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• Bill Oddie: Why I was chucked out of HSBC headquarters over Bankwatch film (independent.co.uk)
• April 19 – Borneo (garyanntrip.wordpress.com)
• Scientists find evidence of nearly-extinct Sumatran rhinos in Borneo (rawstory.com)

Borneo orangutan discovery

This video says about itself:

Hercules the Orangutan – Orangutan Diary – BBC

Sep 20, 2012

Wildlife conservationist Lone Drøscher Nielsen interacts with Hercules, a rescued Orangutan who has been allowed to roam one of the river islands near Lone’s Orangutan sanctuary in Borneo.

From Wildlife Extra:

New population of 200 of world’s rarest orangutans discovered on Sarawak

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) congratulates Government of Sarawak for protecting globally significant orangutan population

April 2013. A new population of rare orangutans has been found in an area of about 14,000 hectares (140 sq km) in Ulu Sungai Menyang, close to Batang Ai National Park in Sarawak. Local Iban communities had been aware of the existence of orangutans in this area, but until recently no major research had been conducted in Ulu Sungai Menyang.

Just 3 – 4,500 known to exist

The sub-species of orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, is listed as the most severely threatened orangutan worldwide with a total of between 3,000-4,500 animals, of which 2,000 live in Sarawak in Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Wildlife Conservation Society congratulates the Government of Sarawak for protecting a globally significant population of up to 200 of the world’s rarest Bornean orangutans recently found by a team of conservationists in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Melvin Gumal, Director of Wildlife Conservation Society, Malaysia Program, said: “It is indeed wonderful to hear the Government’s initiative towards protecting these orangutan and their habitat especially when preliminary scientific data indicates the existence of a globally significant population.”

Central Borneo

Field surveys were conducted in February by staff from the Sarawak Forest Department, assisted by Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Wildlife Conservation Society and Borneo Adventure. The surveys covered 248 kilometres (154 miles) of transects in the hilly, undulating terrain in central Borneo. Ground surveys were supplemented by data from aerial surveys so that 80 percent of the study area was covered.

995 nests found

A total of 995 nests were found in the area. Fresh nests were found in all transects as well as in the remote areas covered by the aerial surveys indicating recent use of the area by these rare orangutans.

Highest level of protection

Upon confirmation that the area had a globally significant population of the rare sub-species, the Government of Sarawak officially indicated the need to protect this area in perpetuity. It is already a High Conservation Value Forest, considered to have an area of high biological, cultural, economic and livelihood significance.

The Sarawak Government intends to hold a dialogue with local communities and the other key stakeholders to discuss options and to involve them in any conservation effort in the area. The four organizations involved in the survey will conduct a follow-up study in the area to formulate strategic actions involving all stakeholders including the local communities.

WCS orangutan conservation work in the Batang Ai – Lanjak Entimau landscape is supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Apes Conservation Fund.

The population of the rarest sub-species of orangutans was found by a research team from Sarawak Forest Department, assisted by Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Borneo Adventure.

Related articles

• Secret population of orangutans discovered in Borneo (thehindu.com)
• Secret Population of Rare Orangutan Discovered in Borneo: New Protection for Primates (scienceworldreport.com)
• Rare Orangutan Sub-Species Found in Borneo (natureworldnews.com)
• Secret Population of Orangutans Found (livescience.com)
• Rare Bornean Orangutan Population Discovered In Malaysia, Government of Sarawak To Provide Protection (latinospost.com)
• Starving Orangutans, Dead Bats and Other Links from the Brink (April 13, 2013) (blogs.scientificamerican.com)

Endangered Sumatran rhino rediscovery in Indonesian Borneo

This video says about itself:

A rhino love story by David Attenborough

Jan 31, 2013

This piece is from the Natural World Special film: Attenborough’s Ark, where David Attenborough considers 10 unusual species he would like to save from extinction.

Number two on the list is the smallest of the rhino family, the Sumatran Rhino – critically endangered with numbers in the wild estimated around 200. We filmed the efforts of a Sumatran conservation rebreeding programme, who in June 2012 successfully bred the first ever captive born Sumatran Rhino in Sumatra. This is their story.

From Wildlife Extra:

Critically Endangered Sumatran Rhino rediscovered in Indonesian Borneo

WWF team find footprints of rhinos on Borneo

March 2013. A WWF team on the island of Borneo to monitor [the] Orang-utan population have discovered what they believe to be the footprints of a critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, where it was believed that the rhino had been extinct for some time.

The WWF staff were monitoring a population of orang-utans in West Kutai district of East Kalimantan. Having discovered the footprints, they conducted a further survey of the area along with government forestry officials and scientists from a local university. The survey discovered further footprints, and some horn scratches at mud holes, as well as trees used as rubbing posts and bite marks on plants, raising the possibility that there may be more than one lone animal, though numbers remain unclear.

The Sumatran rhino was believed to have been extinct in Indonesian Borneo since the 1990s; and fewer than 200 animals exist anywhere in the world in the wild, still living in the wild in Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to the WWF: Current population & distribution

The Borneo Sumatran rhino is now possibly extinct in Sarawak (Malaysia) and Kalimantan (Indonesia), with perhaps fewer than 25 surviving in Sabah (Malaysia). A 2005 survey in the interior of Sabah found evidence of at least 13 rhinos, and scattered individuals are found in other parts of the state.

Read more about the Sumatran rhino on the WWF website.

Indonesian and Malaysian governments agree to work together to save Sumatran rhino: here.

Talking about Indonesian Borneo: March 2013. Pulp timber suppliers to controversial paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) are continuing to log tropical forest and dig drainage canals through peat soils in Kalimantan, regardless of the new Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) launched with much fanfare by APP and parent group Sinar Mas last month: here.

Related articles

• WWF Discovers Rare Sumatran Rhino Footprint In Borneo (latinospost.com)
• Pretty Pictures and Rummaging Rhinos (bloggerheadseaturtle.wordpress.com)
• Sumatran rhino footprints believed found on Borneo (pinoychizmiz.wordpress.com)
• Footprints Belonging to Endangered Sumatran Rhino Found in Indonesia (scienceworldreport.com)

Good South American tapir news

This video is called Mammals of the World: Lowland Tapir.

From Wildlife Extra:

Huge population of tapir discovered on Peru – Bolivian border

Paradise found for Latin America’s largest land mammal – WCS documents at least 14,500 lowland tapirs thriving in Peru and Bolivia‘s Madidi-Tambopata Landscape

January 2012. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists have documented a thriving population of lowland tapirs – the strange forest and grassland-dwelling herbivore with the trunk-like snout – living in a network of remote national parks spanning the Peru-Bolivia border.

Camera traps

Using a combination of camera traps, along with interviews with park guards and subsistence hunters, WCS estimates at least 14,500 lowland tapirs in the region. The population bridges five connected national parks in northwest Bolivia and southeastern Peru. The study brings together 12 years of research on lowland tapirs in the region. Together with WCS studies on jaguars, the results underscore the importance of this protected area complex for the conservation of Latin America’s most charismatic terrestrial wildlife species.

Madidi-Tambopata

“The Madidi-Tambopata landscape is estimated to hold a population of at least 14,500 lowland tapirs making it one of the most important strongholds for lowland tapir conservation in the continent,” said the study’s lead author Robert Wallace. “These results underline the fundamental importance of protected areas for the conservation of larger species of wildlife threatened by hunting and habitat loss.”

Largest terrestrial mammal in South America – Threatened by habitat loss and hunting

The lowland tapir is the largest terrestrial mammal in South America, weighing up to 300 kg (661 pounds). Its unusual prehensile proboscis or snout is used to reach leaves and fruit. Tapirs are found throughout tropical forests and grasslands in South America. However, they are threatened by habitat loss and especially unsustainable hunting due to their large size, low reproductive rate (1 birth every 2-3 years), and ease of detection at mineral licks in the rainforest. Lowland tapirs are considered Vulnerable by the IUCN.

WCS collected and systematized 1,255 lowland tapir distribution records in the region. These records came from research observations and camera trap photographs as well as interviews with park guards of Madidi, Pilón Lajas and Apolobamba National Parks in Bolivia, and Bahuaja Sonene and Tambopata National Parks in neighboring Peru, and subsistence hunters from 19 Takana and Tsimane’ communities.

Camera trap data revealed that lowland tapir abundance was higher at sites under protection than sites outside protected areas. At one site sampled over time, the Tuichi River, camera trapping has revealed that lowland tapir populations have been recovering following the creation of Madidi National Park in 1995. Prior to the creation of the park, loggers had hunted heavily in this area.

Madidi National Park

Madidi National Park contains 11 percent of the world’s birds, more than 200 species of mammals, 300 types of fish, and 12,000 plant varieties. The 19,000 square-kilometre (7,335 square mile) park is known for its array of altitudinal gradients and habitats from lowland tropical forests of the Amazon to snow-capped peaks of the High Andes.

Working with government partners in Bolivia and Peru, the Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Program aims to develop local capacity to conserve the landscape and mitigate a variety of threats to biodiversity and wildlife including lowland tapirs, including road construction, logging, unsustainable natural resource use, and agricultural expansion.

Julie Kunen, WCS Director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs said: “WCS commends our government and indigenous partners for their commitment to the Madidi-Tambopata Landscape. Their dedication is clearly paying off with well-managed protected areas and more wildlife.”

WCS’s conservation research in the Madidi-Tambopata Landscape has been made possible by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the blue moon fund, USAID, the Beneficia Foundation, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, Woodland Park Zoo, and other generous supporters.

The WCS findings were described in the December issue of the journal Integrative Zoology. Authors include Robert Wallace, Guido Ayala, and Maria Viscara of WCS’s Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Program.

February 2013. The Critically Endangered subspecies of Colombian Tapir has been rediscovered in the Paujil Nature Reserve after being considered extinct in the Magdalena Valley rainforests of central Colombia. Camera trap photos and fresh tracks of this rare creature from the Paujil Reserve demonstrate that the purchase and active protection of the last remnant of rainforest in the Magdalena Valley can make a real difference to saving species on the edge of extinction: here.

Malaysia may be home to more Asian tapirs than thought: here.

Related articles

• Large Numbers of Tapirs Found in Madidi-Tambopata Landscape (scienceworldreport.com)
• Wildlife Conservation Society Scientists Document Tapir Eden on the Peru-Bolivia Border (geekosystem.com)
• Haven for South America’s Largest Land Mammal Found (livescience.com)

Borneo’s orang-utans in danger

This video is called Orangutans and palm oil.

From Wildlife Extra:

Borneo will probably lose 50% of its orang-utans

According to new research led by a Liverpool John Moores University conservation scientist, one of our closest cousins, the Bornean orang-utan, is facing extinction.

November 2012. Sharing 97% of human DNA, orang-utans are close to humans in evolutionary terms but scientist Professor Serge Wich and others have found that only 22% of the already endangered species are actually living in protected areas.

Logging, oil palm plantation and tree plantation land

The research also shows that the rest of the orang-utans are inhabiting areas used for logging (29%), oil palm plantations (19%), industrial tree plantations (6%) or are in land that is not allocated for any specific use (24%).

Recent studies show that orang-utans could possibly survive in well-managed logging areas so a very optimistic outcome would be that half of the current population could continue to exist.

Unfortunately, it is more likely that far less than half of the population will survive as not all protected areas and logging areas will continue to be well-managed. Improving such management is therefore a high priority.

Commenting about the research, Professor Wich said: “This research paints a bleak future for the Bornean orang-utan. To avoid this potential decline, plantation development in orang-utan habitats must be halted because it infringes national laws on orang-utan protection.

Further growth of the oil palm plantation sector should be achieved through increasing the productivity of trees in existing plantations and expansion of new plantations into areas that have already been deforested.

Island-wide land-use masterplan

“To reach this goal a large scale, island-wide land-use masterplan is needed that clarifies which possible land uses and management systems are compatible with orang-utan conservation. Such a plan should make much better use of values of ecosystem services of forests such as water provision, flood control, carbon sequestration, and sources of livelihood for rural communities.

“Presently land use planning is more driven by vested interests and direct and immediate economic gains, rather than by approaches that take into consideration social equity and environmental sustainability.”

The research appears in the scientific journal ‘PLOS ONE’.

Related articles

• Logging concessions offer sanctuary for orangutans (wildlifenews.co.uk)
• Borneo will likely lose half of its orangutans if current deforestation and forest conversion trends continue, warns a comprehensive new assessment by an international team of researchers. (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
• Of Orang Utans, Proboscis monkeys & other wildlife – Sepilok, Malaysia (travelpod.com)
• Cheeky Chimps Not So Chirpy In Middle Age (news.sky.com)
• Orang-utans infected by mystery Ebola-like virus (newscientist.com)

New insect species discovered in Borneo

This video is called Crazy Looking Creatures – Expedition Borneo – BBC wildlife.

Translated from Dutch Vroege Vogels radio:

New species in Borneo

Sunday, September 23, 2012 9.9

A team of international scientists has discovered on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo at least three species which are new to science. The Dutch expedition leader Menno Schilthuizen of Naturalis Biodiversity Center announced that this Sunday on Vroege Vogels radio. They are two carrion beetle species and a new damselfly. Because they have just been discovered they have not yet been named.

The scientists have already been in Borneo for weeks to investigate the thousands of endemic plants and animals which are found there. The heart of the expedition is the famous Mount Kinabalu, with its 4095 meters one of the highest peaks in Southeast Asia. Central question is how all these unique species have evolved here. Among the 40 scientists from Naturalis and the Malaysian Sabah Parks conservation organization, there are insect experts, bird watchers, botanists, amphibian specialists and snails researchers.

Besides the carrion beetles and dragonfly, also a new site was discovered where the rare pitcher plant (Nepenthes edwardsiana) grows. This carnivorous plant is only found on Mount Kinabalu. According to Schilthuizen this is a unique and important find.

The English language blog of the expedition is here.

October 2012. At the conclusion of a large scale expedition on the island of Borneo, researchers of the Malaysian nature conservation organization Sabah Parks and Naturalis Biodiversity Center in The Netherlands collected some 3500 DNA samples of more than 1400 species. Among these are approximately 160 species new to science: here.

New Asian bat discovery

This video, recorded in a natural history museum in Malaysia, says about itself:

1. Cecadu Pisang (Lesser Dog Faced Fruit Bat) – Cynopterus brachyotis
2. Kelawar Bahu Putih (Diadem Roundleaf Horseshoe Bat) – Hipposiderous diadema
3. Kelawar Daun Pisang (Whiskered Myotis) – Myotis muricola
4. Kelawar Telinga Lebar (Lesser False Vampire) – Megaderma spasma
5. Kelawar Ladam Hutan (Intermediate Horseshoe Bat) – Rhinolophus affinis
6. Kelawar Ladam Muka Kuning (Trefoil Horseshoe Bat) – Rhinolophus trifoliatus

From ScienceDaily:

Malay Archipelago Bat Not One, but Two Species

(Sep. 6, 2012) — Genetic studies of Myotis muricola, otherwise known as the Wall-roosting Mouse-eared bat or Nepalese Whiskered Myotis, suggest that it consists of not one, but two distinct species.

M. muricola is widespread on the Malay Archipelago, a region with an island geography that provides natural boundaries and as a result displays some of the richest biodiversity in the world. Until now scientists had compared the shape and size of Myotis bats across the Archipelago and conducted only limited DNA analysis. As a result the Myotis family tree has remained in disarray with often contradictory lines of evidence confusing matters.

To resolve these taxonomic difficulties, a team from the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences launched the first in-depth genetic study on M. muricola and its sister taxa, M. mystacinus. Writing in the Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, the team describe how they examined the bats in two regions, West and East of Wallace’s line … . Using a genetic analysis technique known as ‘DNA cytochrome b sequencing’ …, they found that the Western and Eastern groups had a genetic distance of between 26 and 39 per cent.

Based on this high genetic distance they argue that M. muricola Eastern and M. muricola Western should be considered as two distinct species. The data also suggest that the Eastern bat started to diversify in the western region during the Pliocene (5 to 2.5 million years ago). They became fully diverged within the western region during the Pleistocene (2.5 million to 11,000 years ago) under the influence of ancient Sunda River systems that had produced gallery forest corridors which functioned as safe havens for the bats as the climate and geography around them changed.

The authors stress that as a result of these findings an official revision of the taxonomic status of M. muricola is urgently needed. In addition, more samples from throughout the geographic range are required to firmly establish these findings.

Heart of Borneo expedition

The Mount Kinabalu friendly warbler is also known as the friendly bush warbler (Bradypterus accentor).

This bird species occurs only in Malaysia, in the surroundings of Mount Kinabalu of Borneo island.

This is one of the animals, plants, and fungi which the Heart of Borneo expedition will probably see this September. But maybe they will discover species, new to science. And they may find out how the unique species of Mount Kinabalu and the mountains around it evolved.

What are people packing for that expedition? See here.

Rare wildlife caught on camera in Borneo wildlife corridor: here.

Wildlife, birdwatching tourism worth billions every year

This video is called Bird Watching in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

From Wildlife Extra:

Wildlife and bird tourism worth billions every year

Bird watching can help eco-tourism fly high in a green economy

May 2012. Migratory birds undertake some of the most daring journeys in the animal kingdom, often covering thousands of kilometres to migrate. And the growing fan base of these winged adventurers is now presenting economic opportunities through sustainable tourism.

There is a growing trend among bird tour operators to practice sustainable and socially responsible ecotourism, while relying on local goods and services or supporting local conservation projects. Indeed, the UNEP Green Economy Report shows that global spending on all areas of ecotourism is increasing by about six times the industry-wide rate of growth.

Bird watching worth US$ 32 billion per year in the United States

A survey by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service puts the annual economic value generated by bird watchers (or ‘birders’) and other wildlife watchers at around US$ 32 billion per year in the United States alone. This amount corresponds to the GDP of Costa Rica, which, coincidently, is a popular destination for US birders.

Wildlife tourism represents 4% of Scottish tourism

In Scotland, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) found out in 2011 that between GBP 5 – 8 million (US$ 8 – 12 million) is spent annually by tourists wishing to see White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull alone. The equivalent of at least 110 full-time jobs – 4 per cent of jobs in Scotland associated with wildlife tourism – is supported by this expenditure every year. Economic benefits delivered by White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull have more than tripled since 2005.

More details about the Mull sea eagle hide here.

“Birding plays a significant and growing part in the tourism industry, and creates direct and indirect economic benefits for many countries and communities, also amongst developing countries. Wildlife watching appeals to a wide range of people, and opportunities to participate in wildlife watching are and should increasingly be a factor in tourists’ holiday choices today”, said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

In a struggling economy, many mills and factories are forced to close, but that’s not the case for Armstrong Milling in Ontario. According to TheSpec.com, the mill has doubled its workforce in the past decade and sees only growth ahead, thanks to the booming bird feeding business. Initial studies have shown that as baby boomers seek more relaxed recreational pastimes, many of them are turning to feeding the birds, which is good for business. Furthermore, people of all ages can feed the birds, so the market is seeing steady growth at odds with the fluctuating economy: here.

British massacre in Malaysia investigated

This video is called Justice sought over Malaysia massacre – 02 July 09.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Massacre relatives in inquiry bid

Sunday 06 May 2012

Relatives of unarmed Malaysian rubber plantation workers slaughtered by British troops in 1948 will make a High Court bid for a public inquiry into the killings this week.

The government’s refusal to hold a formal investigation into the Batang Kali massacre will be challenged during a two-day judicial review hearing.

Family members of the victims will ask the court to quash the government’s 2010 decision against holding an inquiry.

The massacre occurred on December 12 1948 while British troops were trying to put down the Communist insurgency known as the Malayan Emergency.

Successive British governments have covered up the massacre of 24 unarmed Malaysian rubber plantation workers by British troops in 1948, a lawyer representing relatives of the victims claimed on Monday: here.

Campaigners calling for an official investigation into the massacre of 24 Malaysian rubber plantation workers by British troops more than 60 years ago lost a High Court fight today: here.

This week the relatives of those mudered in a massacre by British troops in colonial Malaya lost their High Court battle to force the British government to hold an inquiry into the killings: here.